Another year is coming to an end and as we spend this month shopping and making holiday cookies, we are also stressing about what’s left to accomplish on our to-do in 2022 list. Whether it was business, health or personal, most of us started in January hoping for something better. For me, it’s been a wild ride. I think back and wonder how it went so fast and what did I do?

It wasn’t until late in the year, October to be exact, that I discovered a video on YouTube, or more like YouTube was listening to my thoughts again and suggested a video about planners. Little did I know there is a whole community of people who have dedicated their channels to setting up and using planners. I love planners. I create my own planners. I used to live on my planner. Then one day, probably two years now, I just stopped. Since binge watching, a good 20 different ones, the motivation is back. Plan your success and you succeed, fail to plan and you fail…something along those lines. The point is, I found what I needed to get me back on the path of my NorthStar.

I know how hard it is to change being who you are to being who you want to be.

My Achilles heel has always been consistency. After reading the book, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza, I do journal about habits that I am trying to incorporate into my day. It has helped with letting go of my knee jerk reaction to give into resistance. I don’t want to be that person that starts going to the gym on January 1st and quits by January 15^th. I don’t want to be like that with any new venture I start that will improve my life. Being a person who battles with depression on a daily basis, I know how hard it is to change being who you are to being who you want to be. Even without depression, it’s not an easy task. Here are some of my personal rules to get you back on track to your NorthStar.

Rule one, don’t beat yourself up. Set your goals according to who you are and not who you want to be. You have to start at point zero. If you jump on the treadmill for the first time in a year and think you are going to be up there for 45 minutes at an incline of ten, you are going to be disappointed in yourself. Lay that baby flat and thank yourself for making it to the treadmill.

Getting back into using a planner, rule two is making it my accountability partner. It’s good to have human accountability partners also, but in the beginning, when it’s fresh, you want to get your footing. Once you find yourself creeping away from your goals, definitely reach out to someone who is judgement free and that you trust. Let them know what your goal is, how it’s going. When things start to get hard, we slip into resistance. It helps to have someone to bounce those ideas off with. An accountability partner also helps with staying consistent. I love the concept of the bullet journal as a habit tracker.

Last, but of course not least, rule three is to enjoy the journey. When I look back at some of my older journals, I remember that person. I remember her dreaming of the day she would be a published author. I laughed 90% of the time I spent with those characters. Now I’m dreaming of the day I finish this second novel. My hiking goals led me to some awesome places here in DFW and took me to Oklahoma. I realize with each goal I set, whether it’s major or small, it takes me on a new adventure each time. For the most part, I’m better off after them.

I am grateful for finding my way back after feeling derailed. This month when I do my yearly look back and ask questions like, what went right and what’s unfinished, my answers won’t feel like I have to rewrite the same goals all over. My whiteboard has checkmarks on it again. The novel is more than halfway completed. I am learning new skills. This year, what went right will be journaling and planning. The last quarter of this year gave me a good push to start my 2023 goals.

If your comfortable sharing, let me know what you are planning for in the upcoming year.

Love and light my friends

Portia Leivette